Genesis 8:8-12 Then he sent a dove to check on the flood conditions, but it couldn’t even find a place to perch—water still covered the Earth. Noah reached out and caught it, brought it back into the ship. He waited seven more days and sent out the dove again. It came back in the evening with a freshly picked olive leaf in its beak. Noah knew that the flood was about finished. He waited another seven days and sent the dove out a third time. This time it didn’t come back.

I saw a movie called Hacksaw Ridge, the true story of Desmond Doss, the man who served in World War II without ever carrying a gun. He believed that God had called him to save lives, not to take them. While other soldiers prayed for safety, he prayed for obedience. His life was simple, but with a deep faith: when God speaks, I listen; when He is silent, I wait.

On the bloody night on Hacksaw Ridge, when the fighting was so fierce that even the bravest fled, Doss stayed behind. He prayed just one prayer: “Lord, show me who I should save next.” Then he waited and listened. Each time he got a quiet prompting, he moved out into the dark smoke and retrieved wounded people. By morning, he had carried more than seventy-five people to safety.

In a way, I see the same rhythm in Noah. Wait, listen, send, receive. The dove with the olive leaf in its beak was not just a sign of dry land. It was a sign of God’s closeness. Noah knew God so well that he could see the small signs. This is true intimacy: knowing God well enough to see His gentle signs in your own life.

Like Doss, Noah waited on God. And like Noah, Doss learned that you don’t have to understand everything. You just have to keep listening, keep waiting, and keep obeying. Intimacy with God grows right there, in the silence between two prayers, in the waiting between two signs, in the faith that God always brings another olive leaf of peace.

Sometimes I think I’m like Noah, too. I often stand at my window and check to see if the flood has already begun to recede. I know I must have the courage to send out my own “dove”. I must release faith, prayer, and obedience in God’s direction. And I must trust that God will also bring me an olive leaf of new life.

Prayer
Father, I often struggle with faith. I struggle to hear You, and then I don’t know which way to choose at the crossroads. But I believe and will continue to send out my “dove” …

Questions
What are you waiting for God to intervene for today?
Which “dove” should you send out now? Prayer, obedience or faith?
How do you recognise the little olive leaf signs of peace?

Now do this
Send out your dove. Do something in faith today, even if you don’t know yet how God will answer.
Be still and listen. Don’t just talk in prayer. Give God space to show His gentle signs of guidance.
Write down your own olive leaf, the sign or reminder of God’s faithfulness, and keep it close for days when you have to wait again.